


XXXVIII.V

by DrainCyanide



Category: Black Sails
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 06:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10551540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrainCyanide/pseuds/DrainCyanide
Summary: A long-awaited reunion. A hug is not enough to hold their deepest feelings.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hold it! This is a sequel for Black Sails' last episode, "XXXVIII". For this very reason, it contains major spoilers. If you haven't watched it yet, come back later!

There was so much to be said in that moment, but no word was uttered. Only a look, followed by a hug, and feelings earlier buried blossomed in an instant.

Those kind hands holding his head one more time were enough for his world to cease. The war that has haunted him deeply and fed him for years now seemed distant, forgotten in some reminiscence lost in time. It was not equally possible to say for sure if that moment was real, even feeling his lips touching him and breaking the conception of an endless mourning.

The idea of being erased from history haunted him no more, as long as he could spend his miserable existence by the side of his only reason for opening his eyes until that very day.

“Thomas…”

“James…”

There was no reaction or reality that could take them out of that dreamlike dimension of fulfillment and happiness. And they could stand, hugging each other endlessly, if it hadn’t been for the foreman to separate them.

The conformity started sprouting in their hearts. After all, they were no longer. And now they could share their respective non-existences side by side until they ceased permanently in fact.

Thomas kept plowing the land, observing his beloved’s silhouette disappears in the horizon. The sun over his forehead has never been so kind and warm, just like Flint’s hands. The anxiety several times tried to flood his heart, but his self-control prevailed until the sun goes down.

When the lights of the colonial house started flickering, the workers left the tillage according to their lords’ daily rules. Thomas hasn’t had any news about Flint and this was corroding him by inside.

Far away from the huge mansion, south, the house of workers uttered the first voices, until their tones grew and gained shapes of plain conversations. The workers took a bath before sitting at the huge table worthy of a feast. Once again, Thomas wandered through his eyes the already known colleagues, but he couldn’t find the one that made his heart pulse.

The food on his plate looked uninteresting and no subject around him was capable of drawing his attention. Lastly, what Thomas feared began to come true. He started wondering if he has lived a dream, if Flint’s figure could have been just a trick that heat and toil played on his heartwood.

Long time ago he resigned himself to his death. He didn’t possess the knowledge that James declared war against the world because of him, let alone he assumed the sobriquet of one of the most feared pirates in the New World, Captain Flint. When he was almost convinced himself about his hallucination immersed in desire, a hand leaned in his shoulder.

By his side, sat a man whose countenance reflected the brightness of a distant dream.

“For one that was given so much freedom, this prison hidden in the form of a farm is a splendid torture.”

“James, I need to know if you’re real.”

“To be honest, I can’t believe myself I’m sitting by your side at this moment. I wish so badly to start a normal conversation, but we know well that our lives have never been based on normality.”

“We may start with the basics, if it helps.”

“Good. What happened to you?”

“Well… After our scandal, my family found a way to make me disappear. Unfortunately, my disappearance was taken as death, which is somehow true when you come into this farm. And what about you? What happened to you to come here after all this time?”

Flint hesitated for a moment. Under the table, he held Thomas’ hand kindly.

“I’m afraid that… It’s for the best if you do not know it. There are things that I’ve done which I’m not proud of myself. After your assumed death, I just… Wished that the world would burn, even if I had to set fire myself into this world until it would consume it.”

Thomas tightened Flint’s hand, in order to cease his suffering. Lastly, he looked into his eyes and replied:

“I can feel the hatred steaming violently in your eyes. I can’t imagine, however, what you’ve been through for all these years…”

“Thomas… I admit I’ve become something different from what I once was. However, the man you knew has returned. I don’t need to feed my hatred eager to vengeance and imposed freedom anymore. When I recovered you, I recovered my peace as well. I want to resume from where we stopped, if you agree with such terms.”

“This will be the fastest negotiation ever registered.”, and they both giggled. After they recomposed, Thomas resumed, with a serious countenance. “What happened to Miranda?”

As he feared, Flint once more dived in silence.

“Miranda… She never forgot about you. I wish I could say that I made her happy, but we both know that’s not true. I hope someday you may forgive me for not being capable of protecting her.”

“She certainly would be happy if she could see us now.”

“She always was comprehensive and her supporting will always remain in my memory.”

“James... Why did the foremen hold you for such a long time? For a brief moment, I believed you were nothing but an illusion.”

“Society took you away from me in a very brutal way for not taking measures that could prevent this happening again. I assured that any mockery is responded in a proportional way as well.”

 “Since when have you become such a good leader at bargaining?”

“One of my characteristics I’ve found to possess after losing you.”

“Shall I refer to you as James McGraw?”

“It’s always been my name and it will always be for you. I believe I’m not satisfied about living in this place, but if it’s necessary to spend the rest of my life by your side, I’ll do it with pleasure.”

The conversation ceased in a comforting way. They both came to the conclusion that, from that moment on, before everything what they have lived separately, the conditions which they were submitted to didn’t matter anymore, they would accept the fate that was waiting for them.

Thanks to Flint’s negotiations, they managed to acquire a room for the two of them only, in the facilities near to the lodging, also part of the courtesy that Long John Silver acquired in offering the fearsome Captain Flint.

The intensity flooded their actions. It’s been years of repressing anguish, pain, rage, impotence, loss and yearning.  The youth escaped from their fingers without noticing it, but the young feelings once more filled their hearts.

Flint still exhaled a salty flavor thanks to the years aboard the ocean. His skin was no longer light as London left it. Now, it was burned not only by the sun that glowed during his trips, but also by the burnings that the powder afforded him. Thomas no longer shared the London languidness as well. The countryside manual work has charged its price. The tiredness due to the sun afforded a maturity that now it would be reflected on the new phase of their relationship.

Their hands remained intertwined all the time. Why was so wrong to love in that intense and equally pure manner? Why a faster heartbeat, a loving look and a smooth touch were enough for their lives to change in such a drastic way? It didn’t matter anymore. Flint has lost Nassau and his particular war for good. On the other hand, he had reconquered his world. His world was Thomas now, once more. All the gold, all the glory and power: everything dismantled in the thin sands of time.

The only fortress that stood was the one that kept the deepest feelings for Thomas. And about that, Flint would never forget. There were many sins to be paid, but for a man that set fire in the world for being destitute of his greatest love, there was one remission at a time.

He would do it again, how many times were necessary, only to feel Thomas’ smooth face once more. His journey ended up where it began: wrapped in his arms. No treasure has ever been capable of comparing with this feeling. And it will never be.


End file.
